The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a program, and an information processing system and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus and method, a program, and an information processing system that are configured to facilitate searching from one of materials before and after editing to another.
In producing and broadcasting news report programs, broadcasting stations and program production firms execute the following sequence of jobs. To be specific, preparations are made for program production, news are gathered, data (hereafter referred to as news gathering material) obtained by news gathering is edited, the edited news gathering material (hereafter referred to as OA (On-Air) material) is broadcast, and the broadcast OA material is recorded. In such a series of jobs, each job is supported by various apparatuses. A system composed of these apparatuses is generally referred to as a news report support system. Related-art news report support systems are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-77807, U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,247, and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2006-42317 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Documents 1 through 3, respectively).
Using a news report support system such as mentioned above, a broadcasting station and a program production firm are able to search the stored OA materials for a desired OA material.